toward that direction and found Ishmael and his mother. They settled with them. The full account is narrated at length in Sahih al-Bukhari (1), in which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “That is why the people perform sa‘i.”

This, then, is the reason people move briskly when they reach this place. There is now no valley there, but there is a marker indicating where the valley was: this green sign.

When performing sa‘i, a person should first call to mind the sunnah of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him; and secondly, the condition of this woman, who was afflicted by immense hardship until Allah delivered her. You, too, are now in immense distress because of your sins, so feel your need for Allah’s forgiveness just as this woman needed food and her child needed milk. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, approached Safa, he recited: “Indeed, Safa and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah,” then said, “I begin with what Allah began with.” (2) This is so that he may remind himself that he is traversing between Safa and Marwah only because they are among the symbols of Allah. Therefore, this verse is recited only when one approaches Safa after completing the circumambulation; it is not recited thereafter.

Issue: If a man performs sa‘i with his wife and they reach the green marker, should he move briskly while she is with him?

The answer is: He should not move briskly, especially during the busy seasons and crowds, for if he did so, he would lose her.

But there is a difficulty here: if the basis for our moving briskly between the two markers is